


Until the rain stops

by induratize



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: F/M, also a very brief mention of hireshipping lol, just a cute teenage crush :')
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-13 21:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/induratize/pseuds/induratize
Summary: Once again, she let her emotions mix with the rain and watched them swirl down the drain. She wasn’t able to tell him how she really felt.Not yet. But surely, someday, that day would come.Perhaps, she only had to try again the next time it rained.





	Until the rain stops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lux_veritatis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lux_veritatis/gifts).



> for my wonderful friend!! thank you for being so incredibly amazing ❤ ❤ ❤

_It was raining again._

_Rain was her absolute favourite; it was her one true solace even in the darkest of days. It comforted her like a mother, cradling her as each raindrop fell from the heavens. It held hopes and dreams that would fly free once it hit the ground, scattering like birds that found freedom once the cage doors were flung open._

_As a child, she would try to catch each raindrop in her hand, hoping to make a wish and it would come true. Yet, at the end of the day, she was always alone, and no wish was ever granted, but she would keep trying…_

_She would never give up._

_But on this particular rainy day, she was not alone. Someone else stood a few feet away from her. Who was it? She could not even make out his face..._

_She called out to him, but he disappeared before he even acknowledged her. She didn’t try to run after him, and only stood in the middle of the empty intersection, listening to the rain as it continued to sing its song: the only lyricless melody she knew by heart._

_Footsteps in the rain… what a beautiful sound…_

_It’s just like a heartbeat…_

 

☀

 

She jolted awake from her daydream. Unlike what she was just imagining in the depths of her dreams, reality presented her a fair and beautiful day, with only one lone cloud floating in the sky. Yet despite the clear weather, Zaizen Aoi was at home lying in bed instead of hanging out with friends that fine Sunday morning.

But then, she had no friends except Miyu, and she was busy with her own errands, as she usually was on the weekends. The two of them were incredibly close despite spending ten years apart. Aoi greatly enjoyed her presence, but her friend still lived in another district, so it was times like these that she realized she was alone, just like she had always been.

_How typical of me. I’m inside on a sunny day, and above all, dreaming about something stupid again..._

She rolled onto her stomach and gazed out at the endless vastness of the blue sky. The beautiful weather reminded her of that fateful day on the school rooftop, when she was out there, out cold and utterly alone. In the pursuit of her brother’s attention, she had done something incredibly foolish. She would have deserved it, she kept telling herself. She would be completely forgotten by everyone else, until...

She fished her mobile phone out of her coat pocket. _I always watched him from afar_ , she promptly wrote on her diary app. _And that was always how I knew him as._ The sentences came out looking foreign to her sheltered eyes and reserved heart; these words were not something she was used to writing, even in the privacy of her diary. Dissatisfied, she put down her phone and sighed to herself. Why was she thinking about him again?

Aoi used to not notice him, let alone remember his name. To her, he was just another one of her classmates who sat in the back of the classroom. Most of the time he was just there, sleeping in class, or not there at all. The only times she remembered that there was someone there was when Shima opened his big mouth to brag about his new duel disk model that everyone else in the school already owned.

Fujiki- _kun_ trusted her enough to show her his deck, which Aoi had always suspected that he himself was not at all proud of. If he used those cards on a regular basis, then he wasn’t even a good duelist in any sense of the word. He probably couldn’t and wouldn’t even call himself a real duelist.

However, he wanted to join the Duel Club, so he seemed earnest enough with a strong will to learn. In her eyes, he was the most grounded person in her entire grade. She also noticed that he handled Shima’s annoying attitude really well. If she was in his place, she would most likely have given him some rather hostile side glances. 

Then the realization dawned on her: she wanted to be his friend. That incident only fanned the flames inside her and as the days passed, she found herself even more determined to turn this wish into reality.

_…So when I finally muster the courage to leave my comfort space, it’ll be on a rainy day, won’t it?_

How would she get closer to him?

 

⛅

 

“Hello, Fujiki- _kun_ ,” Aoi greeted as she approached him that afternoon in the city square. She had finally left her house as her brother had requested her the task of groceries and that she was to make dinner for herself on another overtime shift of his.

She knew a shortcut to the supermarket that didn’t require her to pass by the city square and risk encountering classmates she wasn’t in the mood to see, but she came here for an intended purpose.  

She only came here to see him.

“Zaizen,” he simply said.

“Be careful not to burn the hotdogs.” Aoi smiled to herself; it was funny how she could be shy on some days and then courageous on others sometimes.

“I won’t. I’ve gotten better at this.”

“Welcome! You must be Yusaku’s classmate!” A familiar man who looked to be in his mid-twenties came out from somewhere behind the truck to refill the condiments. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Hello, I’m Zaizen Aoi,” she meekly replied, giving a slight bow. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Ah, Aoi! Yusaku here has mentioned you quite a few times,” the man said, and Fujiki- _kun_ immediately turned to give him an incredulous look. Aoi had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“I have not,” he merely said in return. 

“Can we get you a hot dog?” the man asked her. “Or would you prefer a coffee?”

“It’s okay. I just passed by here by chance,” Aoi said, even though this was nowhere near her first time here. Clearly Fujiki- _kun_ knew that, too, but decided not to ask.

She hated how he would do that. She wanted him to acknowledge her obvious lie, even though she would rather them be alone for a conversation like this.

Maybe next time.

“Well, I must leave now. I have shopping to do.” She turned her heel and walked away without glancing back. 

 

⛅

 

After Aoi had gotten the groceries, she didn’t return home immediately, even though she had every intention to. Instead, she had been distracted by a Playmaker poster on the window display outside of a stationery shop on the way back. There he stood, the hero of LINK VRAINS several times over, a dark horse who rose to defeat every enemy daring to stand in his noble path.

He, too, had saved her life. That was the one connection Playmaker had with Fujiki- _kun_.

But, like everyone else who wondered the same thing, who was the person behind the avatar? And did she know him? As if the shop was intentionally luring her in with its Playmaker advertisements, she found her feet moving on their own accord through the entrance.

“Welcome!” an employee inside greeted her, but Aoi moved straight for the LINK VRAINS merchandise section, specifically towards where the Playmaker goods were displayed.

Once she got there, she stood in awe, marveling at all the figurines and plushes they had of Playmaker. There were keychains, book covers, and even mugs with his image on it. _This must have been where Shima got that Playmaker plush of his_ , Aoi thought, recalling the time Shima had brought it to school and bragged about it to everyone in the Duel Club.

“I saw you talking to a boy in the city square, Aoi- _chan_.” 

Aoi nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around and saw her best friend, Miyu, grinning at her. In her hand, she held a basket filled to the brim with a variety of plushes.

_Where did she come from and why did I not even notice?_

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Miyu- _chan_ ,” Aoi retorted back as she kept staring at her friend’s basket. “He’s just a classmate.”

“You can say anything you want, but you can’t hide the blush on your face,” her friend playfully teased. “Come to think of it, he’s pretty cute... kinda like this guy!” She grabbed a Playmaker plush off a nearby shelf and shoved it into Aoi’s arms.

“W-Why are you giving me this?!” she stammered. She tried to put it back on the shelf but Miyu stopped her.

“I think you should be bolder. If he receives such a gift from the most adorable girl in the world, he’ll be so pleased!”

“I don’t think so,” Aoi insisted, though her words came out sounding dejected. “I... actually don’t really know that much about him.”

“Oh…” Miyu appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, then she took back the Playmaker plush and put it back on the shelf. “Maybe you don’t need to give him anything. Just give him something straight from your heart.”

“My heart?” Aoi was dubious. _There’s nothing in there but the most sincere emptiness_ , she thought bitterly.

“You can do it, Aoi- _chan_. The next time you see him, you’ll know what to do.”

But isn’t everything always much easier said than done?

 

☁

 

The rest of her evening passed with minimal disturbances, as Aoi diligently did her homework as the midday light faded into evening darkness. She didn’t look up until there was a click at the door, signaling that her brother had returned from work and it was already 10 P.M.

"Aoi! You're not in bed yet. Are you feeling well?" 

"Welcome home, _Onii-sama_ ," she responded, getting up from her seat and taking her brother's coat from him. "I was just waiting for you to come home."

"Why is that?" Akira looked concerned.

Aoi hesitated; she wasn't sure if this was the right time and occasion but she had already been waiting for far too long. "I... want to talk to you about something."

He nodded. "Let's have a seat, alright?"

The two each pulled out a chair in the dining room.

She wanted to ask her brother if her feelings were justified. She wanted to ask if she was being reasonable in expecting more. She thought about how Fujiki- _kun_ would never say anything more to her, even after that incident. They just went about like strangers, side by side, talking about the weather from time to time but never trying to start an actual conversation with each other.

“Why are boys so complicated?” were the words that came out of her mouth instead.

Her brother was astounded by her outburst. “Why do you say that?” 

She wished she could take back that silly question. “I mean, they don’t always say what they’re thinking, do they?” Not only was she referring to Fujiki’s reticent personality, but she also remembered all the times she lacked proper communication with her brother in the past.

“Don’t women do that, too? Take Emma, for example; she treats our conversations like a game.”

Aoi giggled; her brother always sounded so flustered whenever he brought up Emma- _san_. “She’s only teasing you, _Onii-sama_.”

“But this isn’t about me, is it?”

She shook her head. “It’s about Fujiki- _kun_. I was just thinking that… maybe me expressing my thanks is not enough for him.”

“Why do you think that?” her brother questioned.

“He’s as indifferent as always. We haven’t gotten any closer after that incident.” Aoi thought she might have let her secret slip with that, but she shrugged it off. “After all, he saved my life. I want to repay him properly, but I don’t know how.”

“I see...” Akira said. He seemed to be searching his head for the most plausible response in this situation. “If a simple thanks is not enough for you, perhaps you only need to tell him that you owe him a favour in the near future.”

“Tell him? Just like that?”

“Sure. Why not? Something tells me you want something more that that, anyways.”

Aoi almost jumped from her seat; were her motives that transparent? Even to her own brother, whose nose was almost always in his work?

“W-Well…” she stammered.

“I don’t need a confirmation; it’s just a hunch I had,” Akira reassured her. “You know the truth, and that’s what’s most important.”

Aoi was at a further loss for words. Her brother was paying attention to her; he was listening to her problems, which would have annoyed any other little sister on a similar occasion. However, since they had finally mended their rocky relationship after years of uncertainty, Aoi couldn't have been more grateful that her brother was now aware of what was actually going on in her mind.

_It was all thanks to him, again. He made this happen._

“Thanks, _Onii-sama_. That’s all I wanted to ask…”

"Alright. You should go to bed now; I don't want to see you still up when I return." Akira gave her a gentle smile. 

She nodded and returned his smile.

With that, he patted her head and left to do his work, leaving her in the kitchen. She turned to glance out the window; the moon was a glowing ornament in the silver-sequined curtain of the night. There were clouds hovering in the sky, but it wasn’t raining yet. A few minutes later, Aoi also got up to retreat into her room, her comfort space.

She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes, with his face reappearing in her mind as she drifted off to sleep...

 

☔

 

Aoi woke up the next morning to the sound of light pitter-patter on her window. She threw aside her covers and ran to her window. The sky was a bright white-grey, like the sun was about to peek out at any time and melt the clouds away. It didn’t rain often in Den City, so she had to savour the moment before the rain cloud passed.

She quickly dressed into her uniform and opened the door of her balcony. The rain fell onto her skin; it was ice cold but nothing else felt better. It was soothing, it always seemed to understand her inner turmoil wherever she was. She could dance in it and feel herself become one with the wind and the raindrops.

Her brother had already left for work, like the diligent executive director he was, but he never failed to leave her a slice of French toast and a handwritten memo, wishing her all the best at school. He would end the message by telling her not to forget her umbrella.

Aoi smiled.

At school, she found herself on the lookout for a certain lone wolf. She changed her seating so that she was sitting in the aisle next to his, rather than several rows in front of him. No one else seemed to pay attention to this new change. She also noticed how he had come in that morning and sit by himself. That would only last a few seconds before Shima would come in and disrupt the silence in the classroom.

Still, her brother’s words to her last night as well as the rhythm of the rain that morning on her bedroom window echoed in the walls of her mind.

That afternoon, a dark rain cloud covered the sky that had partially cleared up earlier. The drizzle from that morning quickly became a storm with a twister of winds howling about and the rain cascading like a waterfall upon Den City.

But Aoi had come prepared, just as her brother had told her to. However, the rain had sent her yet another message that morning. 

She suddenly bolted out of the classroom and down the staircase, frantically searching for someone on the way out. Once she was outside, she saw students running for a nearby shelter as many had forgotten their own umbrellas. She opened the umbrella that she had carried with her in her hand this morning and continued to look around as she left the school courtyard.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure about to turn the corner of the school building, about a hundred meters away. 

In that split second, she knew it was the one she had been looking for.

"Fujiki- _kun_!" she called out, hoping he would hear her before he disappeared around the corner. If luck was on her side, this may be the only time she would be able to repay him. The burden of debt might finally lift itself off her shoulders.

He turned around.

"Zaizen…" he mouthed as she caught up to him. He had clearly been out in the rain for some time, without an umbrella nor was he making any effort to get one. Aoi rushed to share her umbrella with him.

"You're completely soaked," she said as she caught her breath. That observation almost sounded like a scold, which was silly coming from a quiet and shy girl like her. "You'll catch a cold this way."

"I know," he said. "But I don't mind."

"You need to take better care of yourself," Aoi sternly responded. Where did she find the courage to say something like this? And to him, of all people? "Well, I… have an extra umbrella I could have lent you." It had been dangling from her backpack since this morning, and now she held it out in front of him.

He only stared at her, then down at the umbrella. With only the rain falling around them and atop Aoi’s umbrella, about a whole minute passed in silence. She thought he was going to reject her offer entirely until he spoke again.

“Sure.”

"Now you'll have to repay me," Aoi said once he took the umbrella from her. "Because I helped you today."

He stared at her some more, that Aoi felt the heat rise to her cheeks again. Did she say something disastrously wrong? "Thanks," he eventually said. "I'll return it tomorrow."

"That's not really what I meant…" but she was talking to herself by now. She watched his lonesome figure turn the corner and she, too, turned her heel back to the way she came from, content but still feeling like something was still missing. 

Once again, she let her emotions mix with the rain and watched them swirl down the drain. She wasn’t able to tell him how she really felt. 

Not yet. But surely, someday, that day would come.

Perhaps, she only had to try again the next time it rained.

 

_fin._


End file.
